Valley of Flames
by flevrdelacour
Summary: Molly was perfectly content to just be the "coffee girl" of the Auror Department and skip out on all of her Auror duties. Until she is forced to work on the biggest case of this century. "Has my life always been this unfortunate?"
1. Chapter 1

The days passed tediously. He kept track of each one with a mark on the wall.

10,922. 10,923. 10,924.

Luckily they had given him his old cell so he could count off from where he had last started.

He had a separate tally for the amount of days he has spent without her. 9950 as of today.

The groans and cries of his fellow prisoners irritated him. Imprisonment was becoming tedious. He hadn't stayed this long last time. It was weak of him. He should have escaped long ago. He had the talent for it. The fact that he was still here was weak.

She would have been disappointed in him. She was always disappointed in him.

This was all just temporary. The mudbloods and half-breeds and blood traitors could never stay in power for long. Someone would surge up in take the power. Last time, it was Grindelwald. Then, the Dark Lord. But now it was his turn. He would finally make her proud. His queen would finally be proud of him.

He would have to have followers, of course. He would bring others with him. Mulciber, Nott, Dolohov (if he was even still alive). His brother.

He paused his musing as he heard guards walking by his cell, mumbling about Potter. Harry Potter. Apparently his birthday was in just three days.

A smile spread across his dirty, lined face. This was perfect. Potter's birthday was the perfect day to escape.

* * *

Molly Weasley II was barely 5'4 and most of the people at the Ministry were practically 6 foot from her perspective.

The stack of files she was balancing on her left hip was dangerously close to falling and the coffees in her right hand were slowly spilling onto her sleeve.

But everything was great. Working at the Auror Office was everything she had hoped it would be.

She has graduated with her fellow trainees and watched as each of them went on missions and became great aurors, while Molly became some sort of a glorified intern.

She had all the capabilities of her fellow graduates, but no one ever offered Molly missions.

She loved it.

Molly made it through Auror training just barely. She did well enough to beat out the other applicants for the top ten, but not well enough to be number one. In fact, she made sure she was ranked number ten and that she struggled enough that people would only send her on missions if they were desperate.

In her whole year of working at the Auror office, she had talked her way out of every mission as slyly as she could. Thank Merlin her father was politician who demanded his daughters have the charm and grace of a princess.

So she found herself handing out coffee to her peers and even to people younger than her. It was absolutely perfect.

"Jorkins!" she yelled over the cacophony of the Auror office. She ducked as a barrage of Memos flew over her head, spilling more coffee onto the sleeve of her shirt. She was so use to the sensation she didn't flinch at the burn forming on her arm.

The curly haired man looked up at her, "Ah, Weasley, did you get me those files on the Miller case?"

Molly nodded and performed an amazing balancing act of holding the coffee container on her elbow while handling Jorkins the files.

He grinned a bright white smile that shined even brighter when contrasted with his dark skin.

"Thanks, Weasley, you are a star."

Molly smiled quickly at him while shifting the coffee into both of her hands. Now all she has left was Timmons, Lupin, and her dear favorite uncle to bring coffee to.

Molly didn't want to be an Auror. Her life aspiration was to own a bookstore. She loved being surrounded by books. The scents and the feel and the quiet. It was everything Molly aspired to have, along with a big fluffy cat.

But her father didn't approve. Her father may have loved her interest in books, but he hated how "pitiful" her dream was. No daughter of Percy, Minister of Magic candidate, and Audrey Weasley, one of the best lawyers in the Ministry, was going to be a simple bookstore owner. And it was only worsened when her younger sister, Lucy, ran off to Greece with some boy who wanted to be a famous Quidditch player.

"Imagine how this looks! No one will want a Minister who can't even keep his own children in line."

Molly started her Auror training the very next day and her father had never looked happier.

She set Timmons's black coffee on his desk. He was writing a very long letter to someone. Probably that boyfriend of his who lives in Italy. Timmons was known in the Auror Office for having a new boyfriend every month or so. And most ended up being from anywhere but England.

She popped her head into her uncle's office. It was separated from the rest of the cubicles with a thick glass wall that could be charmed to be opaque if he choose to do so. The glass wall helped him keep track of his subordinates, he would always say.

Harry was sitting at his desk, reading what Molly assumed was a long letter. He looked up at the "Auror" and smiled.

"May I?" she asked, holding up his cup.

He waved her in, looking relieved.

She set the cup on the corner of his desk and politely asked, "What are you reading?"

Harry laid down the paper and took a long sip of his coffee.

"A list of instructions from Victoire for my birthday, uh, soiree."

Molly smiled a little, "That's quite long, but what would you expect from the party planning extraordinaire."

Harry ran a hand over his face, "She has such specific instructions. 'Wear green dress robes, not lime green, but not exactly a forest green, more of an in between shade.' Blimey."

Harry stopped and looked up at her, "I haven't worn green dress robes since fourth year. Suppose they will still fit?"

Harry Potter had aged rather well compared to most men of his age, but he certainly wasn't the skinny young man he had been in his school days.

Molly laughed, "I could go get you some right now if you give me the correct measurements."

Harry raised his eyebrows at her and sighed, "Molly, you are supposed to be an Auror, not an assistant."

She shook her head, "I'm not doing anything right now. It would really be no trouble."

Harry looked like he wasn't going to take the bait, but then he pulled out a piece of paper and started writing.

Molly took the paper in her free hand and tucked it into the pocket of her blazer, "Not lime, not forest, in between. Got it."

"Thank you, Molly," he watched her walk out, "I'm going to get you a case soon, I promise."

Once out of his view, Molly shook her head. Not if she has anything to say about it.

She loved Harry to pieces. He was her favorite uncle, but he was a bit thick. She thought he would have realized by now that she doesn't want a case. She doesn't really want to be here. She is happy to just fetch coffee and files and now dress robes.

She dropped the last cup onto the blue-haired auror's desk and said, "Your wife is nuts, you know."

Teddy smiled pleasantly, "Trying being married to her."

"She requests that Harry wear specific robes. For his own birthday party."

Teddy shuffled some things on his desk in an attempt to find the Memo he just received from the Security department.

"She just wants everything to go perfect. And being pregnant has made her a little more, um," Teddy paused his shuffling, searching for a word that wasn't unkind, "neurotic."

Molly glanced at the family picture on his desk. Victoire was becoming the next Nana Weasley. She has already on kid number four with her most recent pregnancy. She was practically popping out a kid a year. Molly had seen her more pregnant in the past five years than not.

Molly waved her little paper in Teddy's face, "Maybe if you didn't keep impregnating the poor girl, I wouldn't have to go get robes for Harry."

Teddy blushed a little, turning his normally turquoise hair a lovely pink color. Molly smirked at this. Teddy looked like a "punk" (as some would say) with his bright hair and his interesting choice of clothing, but he was real softie. The boy would turn red at any mention of an innuendo.

"I suppose I'll be off then."

Molly took the lift to the Atrium, bouncing on her heels with excitement. She shoved people out of her way as she stepped into her fireplace. She was ready to get out of this stuffy building.

'Freedom,' was her last thought before she apparated away.

* * *

Molly Weasley II was good at quite a few things. She was great at Arithmancy. She has a knack for baking cookies and brownies. Her ability to list off all the different defensive techniques you could use in a duel was matched by none.

But Molly Weasley II was not very good at Apparition. She barely passed her test and has been know to carry a bottle of dittany on her at all times.

She was prepared to see the bright stores of Diagon Alley and a thick crowd of people bustling around.

Instead, her eyes were assaulted with dark, dusty stores and scattered witches and wizards, most whom glared at the loud noise that interrupted the silence of the alley.

Knockturn Alley.

Molly's eyes widened so much they could have fallen out of her sockets and she stumbled backwards into a wall.

"Red hair, red, red, fire red, Weasley red," cackled some woman who started walking toward her. Her eyes were dark and looked deranged and her skin was so pale she looked sickly.

Molly took a step back. Her heart was beating a powerful rhythm in her chest that got louder and louder as the woman, and multiple others once they realized who she was, inched closer.

Before the woman could get within a foot of Molly, a scream coming from her left shattered the silence of the alley. Everyone turned the direction of the offending sound.

Molly took advantage of the distraction and ran to the right. Her Quidditch player cousin wouldn't have been able to outrun her in that moment. The lack of air in her lungs was no longer important. She was working off of sheer fear now.

Her father had always kept her away from Knockturn Alley. They never even shopped at the stores in Diagon Alley that were near it.

Molly could understand why.

It seemed like the alley never ended. It almost seemed to get blacker as she went. She couldn't think. Where was she going? Where could she go? Did this alley ever end? Where is the light? Where was-

Molly's thoughts were suddenly cut off as the heel of her shoe became caught in a gap in the pavement and she slammed to the ground. She heard a cracking noise as pain shot up her arm.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh," she tried to keep quiet, but a moan escaped her sealed lips. She nearly started sobbing. The only other time she had ever gotten such a major injury was when she sprained her ankle the first time she tried riding a broom.

She sucked in a deep breath and whomped slightly, but immediately shut up as she heard footsteps and gravelly voices mumbling in the distance.

Her heart was pounding so hard she couldn't hear the voices anymore.

She pushed herself up and pressed her lips tightly together so to not make a sound. She glanced around. There has to be somewhere for her to hide.

A cart full of hay (or at least what she hoped was hay) in front of a presumably abandoned shop. Using her good arm, she vaulted herself into it, nearly crying as her bad arm hit the possible hay, and prayed to Merlin whoever it was wouldn't notice her.

She heard the footsteps get louder and she held her breath.

"Come, Mulciber, you are holding us up. Do you want us to get found?" rasped a voice. It sounded so hoarse, almost as if it hadn't spoken in years.

Molly waited until she couldn't even hear the echoes of the footsteps before she breathed. She felt her heartbeat slow as she lay in silence.

She only moved to pull her wand out of blazer and heal her arm. She laid there for a another five minutes or so to find her wits and then pulled herself out of the cart.

She started walking in what she hoped was the opposite direction that the passing group went in.

She held herself high. She was an Auror (well, as far as titles go). She had nothing to fear. She was trained.

Molly watched her step this time, stepping over the cracks in the ground. Perhaps heels and a skirt weren't the best choice of outfit, but she didn't plan on walking on a shoddily stoned street.

She almost tore her vocal cords to shreds when a hand landed on her shoulder. She shoved her wand in the face of the man.

"Whoa, whoa, Weasley, chill."

Her wand illuminated to reveal the face of Declan Montague. Auror. Very attractive Auror with appealing light brown skin and an extremely photogenic smile.

Her wand lowered, but she still kept it clutch tightly in her hand.

Declan raised an eyebrow at her, "Do I want to ask why you're here, Weasley?"

Molly forced herself not to flush and responded, "Why are you here?"

Declan rolled his eyes, something Molly had noticed he had quite the talent for, "Smuggling investigation. Someone has been stealing Royden Podmore's mooncalf dung and selling it in Knockturn Alley."

Molly scrunched her nose and raised her eyebrows. Stealing mooncalf dung from another wizard is illegal, but did it really warrant putting one of their best Aurors in an old alley looking for some "smugglers"?

Declan's expression showed he was thinking the same.

Molly recalled the voices and the footsteps she had heard farther down the alley, "You know, I heard some voices while I was down there," she pointed in no specific direction over her shoulder, "Sure they aren't your smugglers?"

Declan looked confused, "No way. I've been patrolling this area for the past hour. No one has been pass here. Well, except you."

Molly was sure that a group of men walked past her, but there was no use arguing with Declan. If she remembered from her days in schools, Declan was a Slytherin and they had more pride in one member than the whole Gryffindor house combined. If she even tried to say that maybe he missed something, he wouldn't speak to her for a week.

She narrowed her eyes, "If you saw me running by and recognized me, why didn't you stop me?"

Declan raised a brow, "Me? Stop a redhead midget in heels running a hundred miles an hour? No thanks."

Molly continued glaring at him until she heard a few snickers coming from a darker corner of the alley and glanced at Declan. Swallowing hard, she asked, "So, uh, how do you get to Diagon Alley from here?"

Declan smirked. He knew why she was stuck in this hellhole now.

"I'll take you there," he grabbed her arm and started leading her in the direction she had previously run from. No wonder the alley was getting darker; she was getting farther and farther into it.

He leaned closer her when they walked past an old man in a rocking chair who looked as though he hasn't moved in years, "I've been itching for a reason to get out of here. I can't take it anymore. It's driving me crazy here."

Molly only heard half of what he said as she became distracted by the intoxicating smell of his cologne.

They passed the place that Molly originally appeared at and she almost flinched as she saw the same witch who had chanted about her hair.

The witch caught her eye and gave her a bone-chilling grin. Molly forced Declan to pick up the pace.

She had never been more relieved in her life than when she saw the bright stores of Diagon Alley. The sight of children and robed wizards and the sound of scolding and chatter put her mind at ease.

Declan asked, "Why did you need to come to Diagon Alley? I thought you were supposed to be at the office today, coffee girl."

Molly pursed her lips at the nickname she secretly enjoyed and answered, "Harry needed robes for his party tonight," she paused and appraised Declan, "And you know? Madam Malkin will be needing a model and you and Harry are about the same height."

Declan looked horrified, "Same height? I'm about three inches shorter than him and nearly twice as broad."

Molly giggled and started pulling him toward the robe shop, "Close enough right."

* * *

She had about an hour to get ready for Harry's party once she got home. After she had brought back Harry's dress robes, she continued her duties as"coffee girl" while irritability watching Declan tell everyone about her misadventure in Knockturn Alley.

Hypatia jumped off the couch when Molly came through the door.

"Hello, my dear!" She called as she wobbled toward her. Hypatia had just painted her toenails as Molly could tell from the stench of nail varnish permeating their residence.

Hypatia Zabini had been Molly's best friend since first year. Zabini, as in Blaise Zabini, yes. A bit of a shocker for him when he received a letter from his only child saying she was sorted in Hufflepuff.

"That's why I received a letter about a month later saying that mum was pregnant again. They needed another kid to replace the disappointment."

Hypatia wasn't bitter about it, though sometimes Molly thinks she sees some pain in her best friend's face as she tells the story over and over (to Molly and others).

She grabbed Molly's hands in her own, showing off her newly-painted red nails.

"Red nails for red robes," she sang as she danced into the kitchen, making sure to keep her toes off the ground.

Molly laughed at her friend, "You know you can just use your wand to dry them."

Hypatia shook her head rapidly before biting into one of the brownies Molly made last night, "More fun this way."

"Don't talk with your mouth full. It's disgusting."

Molly walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, her scatterbrained friend waddling after her.

Molly laid her purse down on the coffee table, only removing her wand from it. She glanced at Hypatia, who had rested her feet on said table, wiggling her bright yellow toenails and stuffing the last bits of brownie into her mouth.

"I'm going to get ready," she paused, looking her friend dead in the eye to make sure she was listening, "If you aren't ready by the time I'm done, I'm leaving you behind."

Hypatia nodded quickly, looking comical with her cheeks bloated with the brownie stuffed in them.

Molly sighed and shook her head as she walked down the hall to her room.

She didn't know how she did it, but no matter what state she left Hypatia in when she started getting ready, the other girl was always ready to go when it was time.

"I've just got a knack for getting ready in a jiffy," she always said to Molly with a wink.

She pulled on the blue robes she had set out. Not exactly her favorite color, but as many of her cousins understood, it was hard to find a color to go with the distinct shade of red that came with being a Weasley. At least for most of them. Dominique had beautiful silvery blond hair. James, Albus, Fred, and Roxanne ended up with lovely black hair, and Lucy somehow lucked out and got their mother's brown hair. Everyone else was deemed a redhead by their (unlucky?) genes.

Molly had naturally flat hair so she didn't have to do much to it, but twist it into some kind of knot on the back of her head. She shuddered at the thought of what Rose had to do to her hair. She had inherited her mother's bushy mane, but no had seen her wear it naturally since fourth year.

After retouching her work makeup and adding something a little more dramatic for her lips, Molly stepped out her room, feeling refreshed. She was very ready for a chance to loosen up and see some of her family. She hadn't seen Roxanne since she graduated last year and she has always been her favorite cousin.

Making sure her wand was tucked into the hidden pocket of her robes, she called for Hypatia.

"I'm leaving."

"I'm ready," Hypatia stepped out of her room and sauntered into the living room. The waddling girl in sweatpants and wet toenails had disappeared, replacing herself with an elegant lady in beautiful red robes and braided buns on the top of her head.

Molly whistled, "Damn, you clean up well, Zabini."

Hypatia held her arm out to Molly and they walked out of the flat. Molly locked the door as they continued down the path to the corner.

"Not so bad yourself, Weasley."

As they arrived at the corner, Hypatia checked to see if the coast was clear while Molly said, "Could you do the apparition today? I've had some bad experiences with apparition today. I'd rather not try it again."

Hypatia stopped looking at the street and directed her gaze to Molly, grinning mischievously, "I demand to be informed about this later."

Molly groaned and reached into her pocket to clutch the bottle of dittany she carried and Hypatia apparated them to the Ministry.

* * *

James was already wasted. It has only been an hour and it was his father's birthday and he was very wasted.

He was attempting to start dancing on his (well, their, it was Molly's table too) table, in front of nearly 80% of the Ministry.

Ginny used her muscles she gained from all of her Quidditch practices to pull him from the table and pull him out of the "ballroom" by his ear.

The "ballroom" was really just a renovated room of the Ministry. It was usually used to large-scale meeting, but they also liked to throw the occasional party in there.

"James is ridiculous," muttered Dominique, leaning her chair back precariously. She was to Molly's right. Dom was only a year older than her, but Molly had always felt intimidated by the blonde beauty. Dom looked just like her mother to a tee, but had her father's attitude. She was downright terrifying.

Lily nodded from Dom's other side, "Try being his sister. It's an utter nightmare."

Molly shifted to her left, where she found the lovely Roxanne Weasley. Ah yes, her true reason for attending.

"How's it going, Roxy? How high is your burn count now?"

Roxanne grinned, which showcased the burn across her right jaw.

"Reaching the high 30's now."

Molly shook her head, "That's more than Charlie and he has been in the business longer than you. I swear you do it on purpose."

Roxanne smirked, "No promises."

"Freak," Molly muttered under her breath, "Well, I've racked up a few burns myself."

Molly rolled up her sleeves to show the small burns on her foreman.

Roxanne looked excited to Molly's worry, "Did you finally get a case?"

Molly rolled her lips in and smiled awkwardly, "Uh, no. Coffee is very hot."

Roxanne sunk down in her seat, "Molly, you can't become an Auror just to be the coffee girl."

"I beg to differ. I've been an Auror for nearly a year now and I've been coffee girl since I started. I'd say everything is working out just as planned."

Roxanne gave up on that front. They had had this argument so many times she knew Molly would not give up.

"You know, you could just use the Locomotion charm to carry it so you don't keep spilling it in yourself."

"But as Hypatia would say, 'That's no fun.'"

"Speaking of, where is she? I thought you two were Siamese twins."

Molly pointed to a table on the far right side. A sulky Hypatia sat playing with her napkin next to an equally sulky Scorpius Malfoy and Lorcan Scamander.

"Victoire has the tables set up with Harry and the uncles and aunts, then the children at another. Friends of the family were just scattered elsewhere."

Roxanne replied, "Eh, at least she kept them together."

Before Molly could speak again, a baked potato flew in between her and Roxanne. They whipped their heads toward James's still empty seat and then to his neighbor Fred, who was doing everything to avoid their eye.

"Fred!" they yelled in sync.

"Victoire is giving you the stink eye," Albus offered from Roxanne's other side.

All the heads at the table turned toward Victoire, who was handling the children at a table separated from the rest. Her murderous glare was locked on Fred with an intensity.

"You're dead," Rose added.

Fred gave her an awkward wave and she continued glaring.

Teddy, who was sitting next to her at the children's table, pulled his wand out and Vanished the potato, but not before giving Fred a warning look. He put his hand on Victoire's shoulder and directed her attention back to the children, who were about to mimic Fred in food throwing.

"Oh, now look what you've done," Hugo said around a mouth full of corn.

Fred smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I'm just about bored. When does the actual party portion of this start?"

Dom laughed, "What actual party? Do you not realize you are at the birthday party for a 45-year-old man? There isn't going to be any partying. James somehow getting drunk on wine is going to be the most interesting thing that happens today."

Fred dropped his head into his arms on the table, "Kill me. No dancing-"

Dom laughed, "Oh, there will be dancing. It's just not the kind you'd expect."

Dancing. Once the dinner portion was over, all the tables vanished and classical music started playing.

Hypatia nearly tackled Molly to the ground.

"Dance with me, Ms. Weasley," she ordered.

Molly laughed, "You know, most people ask."

"I'm your best friend. There is no such need."

Molly glanced at Roxanne, whose was watching the exchange with a small smile.

"You want to come?" she asked her.

Roxanne waved her hand forward, "No, no, you two go on. Don't go too crazy."

Hypatia played the part of the male since she was nearly six inches taller than Molly. They attracted much attention because of their loud laughter and terrible dancing. Molly tripped over her robes during a twirl and Hypatia has to catch her, nearly taking them both to the ground.

Not too long after, Victoire and Teddy spun by them. The former had now directed her glare onto them, which sobered them up quite a bit.

But then not even a minutes after Victoire and Teddy were gone, Bill and Fleur came by with Bill muttering the words, "Don't mind her. The party needs livening up anyway."

Molly grinned. Bill smiled back before spinning his wife round and round and dancing away. Their twirl was much better executed than hers and Hypatia.

While they were trying to do a dip, a hand came over and tapped Hypatia's shoulder.

Molly recognized Oliver Jorkins's bright white teeth as he asked, "May I have this dance?"

Hypatia gave Molly a questioning look, to which she responded with rapid nodding. Oliver was a nice guy. A ditz on occasion, but competent enough to become an Auror. Molly would approve him dancing with her best friend, but more than that? She would have to think about it.

Molly was about to go find Roxanne when another hand reached out and touched her shoulder.

A hand connected to an arm and a shoulder and a torso with the head of Declan Montague.

"Dance with me?" he questioned with a debonair grin.

Molly raised her eyebrows, but took his hand anyway.

Dancing with Declan was a lot different than dancing with Hypatia. Declan was a bit shorter than Hypatia and was a bit more... flirtatious with his dancing. His hand dipped a lot lower on Molly's hip than Hypatia's had.

Molly felt a bit wary. He might have been striking, but from what she had seen of romance during her school years, those are the ones she needed to watch out for.

He spun her around and pulled her back toward him, even closer than before. They were nearly eye-to-eye because of Molly's heels. His nose brushed against Molly's cheek and she felt a bit of heat in her cheeks.

As they glided across the floor, she suddenly became distracted by a movement over his shoulders. Timmons was pushing through the crowd, apologizing to people he bumped into while still shoving others.

Declan noticed her staring and stopped their dance to look over too.

"What's he..." Declan trailed off as he saw Timmons poke Harry on the shoulder.

Ginny and Harry separated as Timmons spoke. The two both went extremely pale at whatever he expressed to them.

Ginny hurriedly walked toward Victoire and Teddy (they were helping the children do some sort of Muggle dance) while Harry seemed to be searching for someone.

Harry's eyes fell into Molly and Declan, who were both staring at him, frozen in their dancing position.

Harry adopted the same method as Timmons of pushing through the crowd of people. Shove, apologize, shove, apologize.

Molly and Declan let go of each other as their boss stood before him. Uncle Harry had left himself with Ginny and the dance. This was Head Auror Potter.

"Gather all your fellow Aurors and head to the office. There has been a breakout from Azkaban."

/

New story! That isn't a one-shot! Wow, Hannah, you go.

Molly Weasley II for the win

Leave a review if you want to see more :)

Edited 6/4/17: just for little errors !


	2. Chapter 2

The Auror office was packed to the brim with everyone available. Even the latest trainees were in the office, looking frantic, in both fear and enthusiasm. Everyone else just looked downright terrified. The oldest Aurors all looked like they were going to throw up or were in the verge of tears.

Molly couldn't stand the restrictiveness of the room and while waiting for Harry and the rest of the Aurors flooded in, decided to make a coffee run.

She hadn't gone ten feet before she heard the footsteps of a particular trainee.

"Slow down, would you, Molly," Scorpius Malfoy called to her.

Molly rolled her eyes, but did as he said.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

Scorpius hissed, "Malfoy? That's cold."

Molly smirked, "I'm sorry. Do you want me to call you Scorpy? The way that Albus does?"

He blushed, "Who told you that? He only does that in-"

He cut himself off quickly.

Molly snickered, "You wouldn't believe the stuff you hear people tell each other during family gatherings. Especially when they let James and Fred feed them a whole bottle of Firewhiskey."

Scorpius shook his head, "He's such a lightweight. Got to work on that."

The boy then pulls a small pad of yellow sticky notes out of his back pocket and a pen out of his front. He scribbled down a quick note and stick the note on his tan colored robes, to the join the other eighteen he had already placed on there.

Scorpius had a terrible memory since, well, forever, so from the age of six on, his mother gave him a pack of self-regenerating sticky notes that would never unstick from his clothes unless he himself pulled them off (Molly couldn't imagine what kind of money it took to have something like that made, not that the Malfoys wouldn't have it). He had since started writing everything he heard down and stuck them to himself, so that way the notes were always available to him.

It was rather strange, but many Aurors hoped that after he finish his training that he would be great on cases, as he rarely missed a detail and never forgot them.

Molly shakes her head at the peculiar boy, but then asked, "So to what do I owe the pleasure of being able to stand in the presence of such a magnificent being?"

Molly took an abrupt turn down a hall, opened the door to the lounge, and found herself in front of a coffee (and tea if anyone was feeling it) station. Unlike Scorpius, Molly had an excellent memory naturally and didn't have to write down any of the requested drinks (especially since she had memorized everyone's favorites).

Scorpius leaned against the table and knocked over the bucket of creamers and then the sugar tin as he tried to clean up his mess. Clumsy was a another adjective one could use to describe Scorpius Malfoy.

"Uh, well, I came to help you carry the drinks."

Molly raised an eyebrow. She was certainly capable of carrying all the drinks herself, even without magic. It was art she had mastered after her first month at the office.

The blond peered around, even though no one was in the small lounge with them. He scooched closer to Molly (his elbow knocking over the sugar tin again) and spoke to her in a hushed manner, as if they weren't the only two people within twenty feet of the coffee station.

"Molly, I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think you'll get out of this mission."

Molly latched a lid onto Niobe Rosen's tea with milk and lemon before turning toward him.

"Did you really just follow me here to tell me that?" she paused, but he gave no answer, "Well, I must inform you, dear Scorpy, that there is no way in hell that I am going to be part of this mission, no matter what Harry or anyone else says."

Scorpius shook his head at her in the same way she had to him earlier.

Molly finished the last drink and, despite being able to easily take all drinks back on her own, reluctantly handed Scorpius some of them. He, unlike Molly, used a levitation spell to take his back to the office.

Molly eyed the floating cups up until they reached the office, when Scorpius waved his wand and the cups zoomed to their owners.

Molly handed out each cup to each person. She enjoyed the contact of handing the person the cup and seeing their face light up.

No one's face was lighting up today though. Even Harry, who always tried to make everyone feel hopeful and jubilant, was grimacing unpleasantly.

All the desks had been cleared out of the way. Harry and his second-in-command, a terrifying older woman named Gerda, flanked a blank white board and stared at the group in front of them. Everyone was uncomfortably clumped in front of the stack of desks, waiting for Harry or Gerda to speak.

Molly found herself squished between Scorpius and (unsurprisingly considering he showed up everywhere) Declan.

Gerda cleared her throat as if to silence the room, though no one had been speaking.

Harry stepped forward a bit, "Might as well jump right into it," he paused, taking a deep breath, "As you may have heard, there has been an escape from Azkaban."

He halted his speech, looking at everyone's reaction. By some facial expressions, apparently everyone did not know. Dead silence. Then the voices rang out loud and all at once.

"An escape! From Azkaban!" screeched Heidi Boot.

"How?" called another voice, Amadeus Matlock.

"Who is responsible-"

"What are we doing about-"

"How are we-"

The room was filled with so many unanswered questions. Harry stepped back a little and look to Gerda.

"SHUT IT!"

Gerda shouted over the noise, instantly cutting it off.

Harry spoke again, "We will be splitting into teams of five to check out different locations."

He plucked a list out of his back pocket to read off of.

"The escapees include Antonin Dolohov," Molly glanced over the crowd to find a turquoise head. Teddy's face has frozen in a painful expression. The man who murdered his father, "Walden Macnair, Roderick Travers, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange," She glanced at her blond-haired companion for this one, as did many other people from the office. He looked almost as pained as Teddy, but for an entirely different reason. He might not have been blood related to the brothers, but he was to Rodolphus's wife, Bellatrix, and that was enough for many of the people to look at him suspiciously.

Harry waited until the attention was back to him, "Edward Yaxley and Evan Mulciber."

Molly stiffened.

Mulciber.

Like the man in the alley.

The men in the alley.

'Come, Mulciber, you are holding us up. Do you want us to get found?'

"Harry!" Molly called. She had apparently interrupted something because Gerda gave her a dirty look.

Harry turned his attention to his niece and said patiently, "Yes, Molly?"

All the eyes in the room were on Molly and she deflated, less cocksure with everyone's panicked eyes staring her down.

"Uh, you said Mulciber?"

Harry nodded.

"Um, well, uh. Obviously everyone knows I was in Knockturn Alley earlier, little, uh, apparition mishap," she tried to laugh it off, but quickly stopped when she saw all the grave faces, "A group of men came by me before I found Declan. I didn't think too much of it because I didn't know of the escape. I just assumed they were smugglers or simple thieves, but I clearly remember one of them yelling at another about not keeping up with the rest of the group. 'Come, Mulciber, you are holding us up. Do you want us to get found?'"

Harry's eyes grew about three sizes.

"Knockturn Alley," he muttered to himself, along with a few other inaudible words.

Harry quickly pulled himself together and started dishing out orders.

"Gerda will be investigating Knockturn Alley. Boot, Jackson, Capper, and Matlock will join her."

Gerda took her team and left as soon as they were given the order.

Molly shifted fretfully. How was she to get out of this one?

Harry issued three other units until it was only a handful people left in the room.

"I will have my own unit, as will Lupin. I will need a few people to stay here and run the office while we are away. Make sure the small things are taken care of, take any tips, etc."

Molly brightened. This was her chance.

Harry saw Molly's cheery face and immediately continued the team assignments.

"My team will include Swann, Thomas, Denshaw, and Macmillan and we will be at the Lestrange mansions."

The four moved out of the way of the remaining people.

"Lastly, Lupin's team will be questioning the guards at Azkaban, and will consist of Montague, Rosen, Malfoy, and Weasley."

Shit, shit, shit. Molly felt her heart race. She had to tell Harry that she wanted to stay behind, but Teddy ushered them all out of the office quickly and down to the empty Atrium. Molly couldn't get a word in at all over Teddy's orders.

"Move fast. This is serious case. No messing around. Rosen, Montague, go to that fireplace over there. Malfoy, Weasley, follow me."

Declan pulled Niobe toward the nearest fireplace and he disappeared with one quick motion.

"No- I," Molly started, but before she could say anything Teddy shoved her into the fireplace and she disappeared.

If there was one thing Molly Weasley II hated above all, it was dust. Dust made her allergies act up. It clung to her clothes and her favorite books. It was just rude and inconvenient.

So when she flipped out of a fireplace into a pile of dust, she couldn't have been more annoyed. Add to that that she didn't even get to talk to Harry about working on the tip line and Molly was ready to explode.

Just as she was pulling herself up, Scorpius landed on top of her and forced Molly to expel all the air in her lungs.

"Oh, Merlin, sorry, Molly."

"It's fine," Molly gasped as she sucked in more air. Niobe came out after them, looking frazzled. Her kinky black hair was stick all over the place like she had been electrocuted.

"Holy hell," commented Declan, standing over by the door of the hut they were standing in. Or at least what Molly hoped was Declan. All she could see was a Declan-shaped shadow at this distance.

Niobe moaned, "I hate Floo."

She moved toward a broken mirror on the wall and started trying to contain the mess despite the fact that there was little to no light in the dark shack.

Teddy stepped smoothly out of the fireplace next.

He looked most like an Auror out of all of them. He looked serious and ready for the fight while the rest of them... well, they were a little less than satisfactory.

Teddy walked out of the door to the hut without a word and the rest of group followed him obediently (though Niobe was still pretty pissed about her hair).

The ramshackle hut was the only thing for miles on the hill. Until the hill ended with that Molly thought a small dock with five or six small boats. Hard to tell at this time of night.

Molly stared at the water as they walked, but something else caught her eye. A massive thing in her peripheral vision. She turned her gaze until it hit an island and then a massive fortress.

Azkaban.

She had no idea how she missed it before, no matter how dark it was out. The prison was colossal and loomed over them like a threat. The darkness of it caused Molly to have chills even at this distance. Her dignity was the only thing holding her back from running back into the hut and diving into the fireplace.

But she would find a way out of this case. No way she was going to have a freaking prison break as her first case. She would tell Harry when they got back to the office that she couldn't work it.

Molly has stopped and stared at the building and had to be jostle out of her trance by Scorpius.

Niobe and Teddy took one boat while Declan, Molly, and Scorpius took another.

Molly hadn't had very good experience with boats. Last time she was in a boat was in her seventh year when James had shoved her out of the boat for gloating about how Hufflepuff had won more House Cups over their years at Hogwarts. She swore that something tickled her ankle before Fred pulled her back in.

Molly eased herself slowly into the boat, taking quick breaths as she sat down in the very back. She avoided Declan's smirk at her fear by staring at the prison, but that almost made her feel worse.

The boats moved on their own just like the ones at Hogwarts, but Declan made a sport of pretending to rock theirs forward.

"Stop," Molly moaned, hugging her knees to her chest. She already felt sick enough without Declan making her fear dying via unknown lake critters.

"Couldn't we have just apparated?" she mumbled to herself, but Declan heard her and laughed.

"Weasley, you can't apparate onto Azkaban. Don't you read up about anything?"

Molly glared at him. Of course, she read anything and everything. Just not books about the fundamentals of traveling to Azkaban. She has never planned on visiting.

Scorpius leaned over slightly from his side of the boat and patted Molly's knee.

"It's almost over," he said with a somewhat pained grin.

This must have really been the worst for Scorpius. He had been told (from strangers nonetheless) his whole life that his family belonged in this nightmare of a place. And here he was traveling to this building that had once held his (albeit psychotic) deceased great-aunt and his grandfather, who Molly had seen on the platform giving Scorpius a massive hug and sending him off to the train during fourth year.

That didn't seem like a man who should be in such a dark place.

Molly touched Scorpius's hand gently, "Yeah, almost over."

She gave the boy a reassuring smile and he did the same to her.

Scorpius was one of the sweetest people Molly knew and she couldn't understand how he was a Slytherin. That was, until she saw how he subtly tripped that seventh year who made fun of him and Al when they first started dating. Or how he could persuade anyone into anything, like the time he convinced Molly to drink a whole bottle of firewhiskey in one go at his birthday party. (She spent the whole weekend in her bathroom with a raging headache. Her and Al seemed to have that lightweight thing in common).

The boats pulled into the dock on the prison's island. Teddy was the first one out and helped Niobe out of the boat before taking off up the flagstone path leading up to their destination.

Declan heaved himself out of the boat quickly and nearly tipped the thing over. Molly could feel her dinner rising up her throat. Scorpius got out as smoothly as possible and offered Molly a hand, which she gratefully accepted.

She teetered a little on her heels and cursed. This just had to happen on the night of Harry's birthday party. Molly reached down and yanked off her heels, opting to carry them.

Declan had already taken off toward Azkaban, but Scorpius had waited on her.

"We all look incredibly stupid. Coming to Azkaban in our nicest dress robes," Scorpius mumbled to her.

Molly's own robes had now torn and was covered with water and dust. She sighed. These were her nicest robes.

Is this what missions were always like? Messy... and creepy. She tacked on that last bit after getting a chill the moment she stepped through the guard's door into the prison.

Dementors hadn't been there in nearly thirty years, but the prison still felt just as morbid and dismal. Their presence left a melancholy feeling in the prison long after departure.

The darkness outside did not compare to the darkness inside. The hallway the group was being lead through was so dim Molly could barely make out Declan's head in front of her.

To make it worse, it was freezing. The summer weather hadn't warmed it at all. Molly could see her breath in the form of a little cloud. She just about put her heels back on for fear of frostbite on her feet.

The guards leading them was an Auror that Molly recognized. Oliver Thimby. He was a chai tea kind of guy (something Molly completely identified with). But he was also a bit of a bore and loved to ramble on about his pet turtle, Maximus.

"Were you here during the breakout?" she asked him. She had been shoved next to him and given the duty of questioning because of her "kind Hufflepuff nature". Even though Teddy was also a Hufflepuff. And despite the serious nature of this, he still didn't want to be the one to talk to Oliver.

Even in the dim lighting, Molly could see Oliver redden.

"Uh, yeah. I was, uh, knock out by a stray spell. So I don't really remember much that happened. You should ask George. He nearly fought them off."

Molly sighed as silently as possible. Oliver had been in her trainee group and it was a struggle to stay under him. He had been the nine of the ten and that should say a lot about the other people training.

Most of worse ended up here as a guard. Molly was sure she was only still in the office because of Harry.

Oliver lead them up a staircase onto the first official floor of the prison.

Inmates lined the walls. Low level ones, of course, but it still perturbed Molly to see the dirty faces of witches and wizards staring at her through the barred windows on their steel doors. Some of them made nasty comments through the bars at the group. Molly glanced at Teddy for guidance, but he was just staring forward, ignoring it all. Molly tried to do the same, but she nearly lost it when one spit on her.

It was worse for Scorpius. It seemed some of them recognized him as a Malfoy and scorned him for being an Auror (trainee). He took it like Teddy did though, with a head held high.

"Sorry," Oliver apologized to them as they reached another staircase, "George is on the second floor guard."

Teddy waved his hand, "It's all part of the job."

The next floor was nearly silent, despite the fact that these were higher level criminals. All that could be heard was the occasional whisper and a creak or two.

George Ramkin was a rather formidable man, so it didn't surprise Molly that the floor was being docile.

Ramkin stood at the end of the hall. The massive man stood taller than even Scorpius (who was nearly 6'4) and wider than the door he was in front of. His buzz cut and mean dark eyes add to that gave him the look of a muggle army man. And he had the attitude of it.

Ramkin eyed them up before stepping out of the way and letting them into the room.

All that inhabited the sparse room was a table with a few chairs.

Oliver left quickly after they were in the safe hands of Ramkin. Niobe instantly dropped into one of the chairs. Declan and Teddy opted to stand while Ramkin leaned against the wall in front of the table. Molly and Scorpius perched on the remaining chairs.

Teddy started the questioning unhesitatingly.

"You were here for the breakout? And the last person to see the group?"

Ramkin nodded and spoke in a deep rumbling voice, "Yes."

Teddy glanced over at Scorpius to see that he had pulled out his sticky notes and pencil.

Teddy cleared his throat and said, "Can you describe that night for us? In detail?"

Ramkin crossed his legs as he leaned back, "I was working on the third floor that night. It's three floors under the floor that holds the ex-Death Eaters. I arrived later because I had a problem with a woman on my floor, but I was there just after they broke out Macnair. The Lestranges and Yaxley were already out. Rodolphus and Yaxley were the ones breaking him out with the wand from the guard on that level while Rabastan was fighting off two guards with the second's guard's wand. I attempted to stop Yaxley, Macnair, and Rodolphus from getting Travers, but that's when Thimby showed up and was hit by a stray stun from Bletchley before he could take another step. I was able to engage Yaxley, who had the wand, for a minute, but during this, Macnair stole Thimby's wand and was able to catch me off guard and slam me against a wall. I lost my visions for a minute or so and they had gotten both Travers and Mulciber out by the time I was able to get back up. All that was left of the guards now was Bletchley and Watkins. Rabastan had taken out nearly everyone else and now each of the escapees was armed with a wand and we were severely outnumbered. I attempted to duel with Rabastan and Yaxley and while I was able to easily stun Yaxley, Rabastan was much better. I was able to disarm him at the very last second, just as Macnair had killed Watkins."

Scorpius gasped. Molly had a hand over her gaping mouth while Niobe's eyes were bugged. Declan and Teddy's expressions hadn't changed other than a clenched jaw and a darkening in the shade of hair respectively.

None of them had been informed of deaths.

Ramkin continued his story despite all of the shock, "Bletchley had fallen into one of cells and Mulciber and Travers had locked her in. So now I was just me, a disarmed Rabastan, and five armed Death Eaters. But none of them tried to take me. They just stared at Rabastan and waited. To which Rabastan responded by waving his hand and I was blasted against the staircase and once again knocked out. They were gone by the time I had gained consciousness. There had been no guards left downstairs to fight them off, so they had an easy escape."

Molly furrowed her brow. 'Rabastan responded by waving his hand and I was blasted against a staircase.'

"How many survivors were there?"

"Four. Thimby, Bletchley, myself, and Davies."

Five guards guards dead.

"Is that floor available for searching?"

Ramkin looked uncomfortable for the first time during the whole questioning.

"We haven't, ah, finished cleaning it up."

Read: the bodies still hadn't been picked up by the morgue yet.

Molly thought she was going to be sick. But she was still stuck on the thought of Rabastan. He waved his hand and Ramkin flew across the room. That's not possible. He didn't have a wand on him.

Teddy cleared his throat once again, "Was there anyone who witnessed the breakout that we can speak to?"

"Bletchley. She was a guard on that floor."

Ramkin pushed off the wall and walked across the room in two strides.

"She's guarding the third floor now. I can fetch her for you."

Declan whistled, "Merlin, these Azkaban guards have no breaks, do they?"

Merlin's right.

Merlin.

Merlin!

Molly jumped up, knocking her chair over.

Her teammates eyed her, bewildered.

"Merlin!" she yelled.

She was faced with many raised eyebrows and she realized she hadn't actually articulated any thought.

"Ramkin said something that confused me a little. Rabastan simply waved his hand and he flew across a room, just after Ramkin disarmed. Doesn't that bother anyone else?"

Niobe had a bit of understanding on her face, but everyone else looked confused.

Molly moaned, "He performed wandless magic, guys. Wandless magic."

Scorpius shrugged, "So? Children perform wandless magic all the time. I levitated our cat when I was five and I didn't have a wand."

"It's different. Children perform wandless magic, because they don't have a conduit for their magic like a wand. Plus children are developing so their magic tends to flow out of them in powerful burst. But full-grown wizards have stabilized their magic. They can control it, so wandless magic is no longer an option," Niobe remarked.

Thank Merlin for Niobe Rosen and her Ravenclaw tendencies.

"Niobe is exactly right, except for that last part. It's not impossible, but it's extremely hard to do. It's like regression, going back to before you could properly control your magic, and then trying to learn how. Every wizard, if they try hard enough, can do the little things. Levitation, summoning, etc. The last person to successfully perform large scale acts such as being able to throw enough person was Merlin."

Teddy who had looked rather confused before, stepped forward with a distressed expression.

"You are saying we aren't just facing a group of ex-Death Eaters, but also a man with powers not seen since the likes of Merlin, the most powerful wizard in history?"

Molly nodded meekly.

Teddy collapsed into Molly's empty chair and threw his face into his hands. His hair had turned black.

"Are we doomed?" asked Scorpius.

Behind his hands, Teddy nodded.

/

Edited: 6/4/17


End file.
